Arthur sat at the front of the wagons with Jaali, as he usually did, making broken small talk as they crossed the open plains on their way to the border between the Mali and Songhai lands. Now being surrounded by other merchants, much of the teamwork they had built up was no longer required. Few wild animals felt the need to challenge the caravan and bandit raids were far less likely due to the large number of merchants. On their previous journey, they had only encountered bandits on a single occasion, as the routes they had taken were generally not viable for sustained raiding.
This relative peace was short lived, as panicked shouts came from the front of the caravan. Evidently a body had been discovered off the side of the road, spreading panic across the merchants. It did not take long for Victoria to be summoned by the leader of the caravan: Ziyad. “The boss wants the white sorcerer's knowledge to examine a body, bring her and her tools to the front of the group.” Ziyad's subordinates left no room for questioning, only providing an order which they ensured would be followed. Ziyad needed to know what animals dared attack humans in the area, so that he could deal with them appropriately or warn other traders. The safety of his people and goods were of the utmost importance.
Victoria quickly emerged from her basket and was quickly escorted to the corpse, along with Kahina to translate. Few from her group followed, however Amne and himself both accompanied them, in the event that she needed assistance. Their own medicine man, Munyiga, was already standing over the body, making his own observations and theories. Kahina quickly turned away from the scene, wishing to shield herself from such sights. Even if this scene was far more tame than others he had previously encountered.
The body was left lying on its back, staring blankly into the cloudless sky. Aside from a slowly growing collection of flies, the corpse was mostly fresh and intact. Beside him was an empty basket, with a few remaining scraps of food left scattered about the ground. On the victim's neck was clear bite marks, gaping wounds that were exposed to the world. Given the lack of decay, it had probably occurred in the last few hours. Further confirming this were: the still warm ashes of a campfire a short distance away, littered with the signs of a violent struggle before dawn.
The vampress quickly got to work examining what she could of the corpse, whenever Munyiga would be distracted enough to allow her to use her cane to poke and prod the corpse. “This is clearly an animal attack.” Munyiga declared, forcefully shoving away Victoria's stick as she tried to tilt the head. “There are multiple bite marks which were likely the result of a leopard. No need to involve this foreigner in something so obvious. Only a blind man or a buffoon would say anything to the contrary!” Ziyad, wanting a second opinion, gently swept the medicine man aside to allow Victoria better access. “If that is the case, it wouldn't hurt to confirm your suspicions.”
“The bite marks do not match the usual pattern for leopard attacks. The incisions from the teeth are too small and uniform, you can see that there are no large holes left by the incisor teeth.” Victoria commented, finally permitted to examine more closely. “The neck is also mostly intact. Normally a large cat would break the neck when killing its victim, however it is not the case here.” As she made her assessment, her cane pointed to the points of interest which supported her hypothesis. Munyiga grumbled and made excuses as to why her theory was flawed. Undeterred, Victoria continued her brief examination.
“If we were to look at his back...” she continued, casually turning him over as to reveal his underside. “There is no bruising or signs of violent strike caused by a careful pounce. Something else did this...” Taking a piece of cloth, she pressed it against the wound. Slowly the cloth became stained with blood, although far slower than one might expect. “There is far less blood present, both mixed into the soil and remaining the body to be anything other than intentional... Usually, you would see flesh missing from the body, but this one is mostly still intact. My guess that it was something human-sized, based on the bite marks, that did this. I cannot comment any further, except for suggesting that trackers confirm my findings.”
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Ziyad pondered the two statements while Munyiga vocally insulted Victoria, something which Kahina was not required to translate. With a raise of his hand, the merchant summoned his scouts to confirm the tracks in the surrounding area. “No leopard prints I can see,” remarked one. “Even with our footfall, there is little signs of a leopard or lion.” Only Munyiga still held onto the belief that it was a large cat.
Personally, Arthur did see the similarities between the bite and vampire attacks back in England, however it was clear that Victoria was not the culprit. It fit neither her usual modis operandi or general pattern of behavior. That is without taking into consideration that she was in the back of the wagon since they had departed several hours ago. It was likely another vampiric creature local to the area, drinking their fill before returning to the shadows.
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Their arrival at the closest village only brought further sorrow, delivering the corpse of the fallen scout. The settlement was already in a bad state, as much of their crops had suddenly withered. Almost unnaturally so. His name had been Chane, one of the young male warriors who protected the village from anything that threatened it. This time, he was ultimately unsuccessful. Chane had wandered far outside the village in an attempt to return with some meagre sustenance. With the aid of horses, it had taken the caravan three hours to travel from his campsite to his home, something which would've taken the man far longer to accomplish. The distance was a sign of the desperation of his family.
Ziyad opted to have his merchants stay the night in the village, believing that they would be slightly more protected with-in the village limits than on the open roads. Arthur had volunteered to be on watch, sensing that there was something unnatural in the air. Victoria seemed to share his sentiment as she joined him, keeping her familiars out of sight. Their current arrangement was pushing her limits, as she could not readily collect blood for regular sustenance. Many of the merchants wished to be welcoming, seldom giving her time collect and drink blood from her own group. While some sorcerers did practice hedonistic blood rituals, her direct consumption could not be so easily downplayed as a casting some foreign spell. She had taken to fasting while embedded in the caravan, occasionally sourcing a few drops from her mercenaries or discretely substituting some animal blood if there was some available.
As they settled in for the evening; a bright light could be seen moving through the grasslands. Unlike the erratic movements of the fireflies, this light seemed to move in a fairly consistent pattern. The glowing light source held a luminous blue hue, bobbing up and down as if it was attached to something moving in the distance. Silently they raised the alarm to the other watchers, all of which were gravely concerned as to its identity. Some brought up tales of the Obayifo* from the Ashanti tribes, believing that it had travelled far inland in search of food. It's humanoid silhouette seeming to confirm their hypothesis.
Arthur volunteered to challenge the creature, much to the shock of Ziyad's merchants. His reckless tendencies often resulted in such reactions. Regardless, many agreed to allow him to confront the strange being and left the task in his hands. Victoria did not wish to be involved beyond providing some general advice or tools, as the attention was antithetical to her goals. In this instance, she provided a fine powder that could disrupt magical energy when dispersed. It was not too dissimilar to the substance she used against the sorcerer however many weeks prior.
Flanked by two of the caravan guards, Arthur silently approached the creature. While its form closely resembled a human, it's blue skin and glowing eyes distinctly said otherwise. With each movement the surrounding plants withered and died. His support hesitated on seeing the sight, their usually fierce resolve tested after seeing the mystic force leaking from its body. A careless snap of a branch alerted the suspected Obayifo to their presence, revealing its long needle-like teeth as it screeched in their direction.
Thankfully the powder provided to Arthur worked all too well, disorientating the creature as he charged. His speed was quickly able to overwhelm his foe, impaling its body with his sword before it could react. As the life drained out of its body; the Obayifo tried to cast one final curse, something which was easily repelled by his divine aura. Providing its final purifying rites, Arthur lowered it to the ground as the luminescence faded into the night's sky. The warrior, who contributed nothing to the assault, stood in shock as he hefted the now lifeless body onto his shoulder. With this act, the village would be free to recover and Chane would see his death would not go unanswered.